Zipper Pull Latch for Hanging Object

ABSTRACT

An attachment system is integrated into a hanging ornament (e.g., toy, audio player, aesthetic adornment, etc.) that readily attaches to a specially shaped zipper pull that replaces or mounts to a generally known zipper pull. The wearer then has ready access to the item with reduced likelihood of dropping the item. This allows the user to have very easy access to the toy which hangs from the attachment piece on the exterior of the garment. The system is designed to allow for the toy to be easily attached and detached from the attachment point for ease of use. Furthermore, in many situations it is possible to use the toy without needing to detach it from the garment as the flexible corded attachment piece allows the toy to be handled without removal.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of the co-pending and commonly-owned U.S. Pat. Appln. Ser. No. 60/712,560, “ZIPPER PULL LATCH FOR HANGING OBJECT” to Terry J. Cyr and Theodore C. Sorom, filed 30 Aug. 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to garment attachments for novelty items, and more particularly to garment zipper pulls with detachable objects.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many small toys exist in the marketplace, but rarely is there a suitable system for carrying such toys or other useful or entertaining items without having to put them into a garment pocket. Placing these toys in a pocket makes them less accessible and thus less likely to be played with.

Consequently, a significant need exists for an easily used way of attaching small objects to a person for carrying and use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses these and other problems in the prior art by providing an attachment system including a zipper pull with a narrower portion above a lower portion that provides an engagement system for spring biased locking members integrated into a hanging object (e.g., toy, audio player, etc.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a zipper pull attachment system including a corded zipper pull engaging tab attached to a generally-known, permanently attached zipper pull of a zipper with a detached object cut away to expose a locking receptacle with inwardly biased locking arms for selection for mounting onto the zipper pull engaging tab.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the zipper pull attachment system of FIG. 1 with the object engaged to the engaging member and cut away to expose the locking receptacle having spring-biased locking arms engaged to the corded zipper pull engaging tab.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the zipper pull attachment system of FIG. 2 with an object oriented to present a spy glass assembly in a folded state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the corded zipper pull engaging tab detached from the zipper pull of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an alternate zipper pull engaging tab permanently attached to a zipper for the zipper pull attachment assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is another alternate zipper pull engaging tab slidably mounted onto or affixed to the generally-known, permanently attached zipper pull of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the further alternative corded zipper pull engaging member having the ball tip shown engaged to an alternate object having a spherical locking receptacle to form an alternative swivelling zipper pull attachment assembly.

FIG. 8 is a detail front view of the further alternative corded zipper pull engaging member having the ball tip of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a further alternative corded zipper pull engaging member engaged to an audio player object incorporating a swiveling spherical locking receptacle.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the further alternative corded zipper pull engaging member of FIG. 8 engaged to a stop watch object incorporating a swiveling spherical locking receptacle.

FIG. 11 is a front view of the further alternative corded zipper pull engaging member of FIG. 8 engaged to an ornamental object incorporating a swiveling spherical locking receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning to the Drawings, in FIGS. 1-3 a zipper pull attachment assembly 10 includes a zipper pull member 12 having a rounded engaging tab 14 larger in at least one transverse axis than a narrow waist 16 immediately above that connects to a zipper mounting portion 18. In the first illustrative version, the zipper pull member 12 is generally flat and thus the narrow waist 16 is formed by left and right hooking receiving notches 20, 22. In the first illustrative version, a cord loop 24 is attached to the zipper mounting portion 18 for looping through a hole 26 formed in a generally-known, permanently mounted zipper pull 28 attached to a slider 29 of a zipper 30.

A locking receptacle 32 having a thin prismatic recess 34 shaped to receive the engaging tab 14 is formed into an upper surface of an object, depicted as a toy telescope 36 (FIG. 3). A left locking arm 38 resides along a left side of the locking receptacle 32 and has a central recessed pinned inward flange 40 extending rightward and pivotally attached to a housing 42 of the toy telescope object 36 along a lower surface of the thin prismatic recess 34. A right locking arm 44 resides along a right side of the locking receptacle 32 and has a central recessed pinned inward flange 46 extending leftward and pivotally attached to the housing 42 of the toy telescope object 36 along the lower surface of the thin prismatic recess 34. Lower ends 48, 50 of the left and right locking arms 38, 44 terminate in inward spring posts 52, 54, respectively, that receive opposite ends of a biasing coil compression spring 56 that urge the lower ends 48, 50 away from each other, and biasing inward left and right hooks 58, 60 attached to upper ends 62, 64, respectively of the left and right locking arms 38, 44.

The hooks 58, 60 have an upper rounded contour that interacts with the rounded engaging tab 14 during insertion of the zipper pull member 12 by kicking out compressing spring 56 until hooks 58, 60 lock into notches 20, 22, respectively. Left and right release buttons 66, 68 extend laterally out of the housing 42 and are respectively attached to the lower ends 48, 50 of the left and right locking arms 38, 44 between the pinned inward flange 40, 46 and the spring posts 52, 54. Thus, user compression of the release button 66, 68 causes the hooks 58, 60 to release the zipper pull member 12.

In FIG. 4, the zipper pull member 12 is depicted detached from the zipper 30 and from the object 36.

In FIG. 5, an alternative zipper pull member 12 a replaces the generally-known, zipper pull tab 28 by being installed by the provider of the zipper 30 to the slider 29. Typically, the zipper pull member 12 a is formed from metal and incorporates left and right hook receiving notches 20 a, 22 a or a similar inverted T-shape for sliding engagement.

In FIG. 6, another alternative zipper pull member 12 b reduces the length that the object 36 hangs from the garment or other item with a zipper by incorporating a zipper mounting portion 18 b that is intended to overlap (e.g., affixed to or resiliently encompassing) the generally known, permanently attached zipper pull tab 28. The zipper pull member 12 b may be made of molded resin, plastic, ceramic or metal or other materials and incorporates left and right hook receiving notches 20 a, 22 a or a similar inverted T-shape for sliding engagement.

In FIGS. 7-8, an additional alternative zipper pull member 12 c of a zipper attachment assembly 10 c is identical to the corded zipper pull member 12 of FIG. 4 but with the flat engaging tab 14 replaced with a spherical ball tip 14 c attached by a rod-shaped waist 16 c that provides certain advantages, such as being inserted from a larger angular orientation to an object 36 c that includes a spherical receptacle 32 c and left and right locking collars 58 c, 60 c that are biased toward and shaped to encompass respective upper half portions of the spherical ball tip 14 c. The spherical attachment also allows the device to be swiveled while still attached for ease of use or to orient the hanging object 36 c during carrying.

It should be appreciated that the version depicted omits manual release controls, relying upon the spring biasing to be sufficient to maintain engagement until sharply pulled out by the user. Alternatively, release controls may be incorporated that separate the locking collars 58 c, 60 c. The obtuse angle provided by the spherical ball tip 14 c and rod-shaped waist 16 c facilitates non-destructive retraction. Similar beveling of engaging hooks (not shown) could be used with more two dimensional locking receptacles to achieve a similar interaction.

It should be appreciated that many types of novelty, ornamental or utility items may be conveniently attached with a version of the zipper pull assembly 10, 10 c. In FIG. 9, an alternative object, depicted as a personal video and/or audio player 36 d is engaged to the zipper pull member 12 c. In FIG. 10, a stop watch object 36 e is attached to the zipper pull member 12 c. In FIG. 11, an ornamental object 36 f is attached to the zipper pull member 12 c. An external spherical receptacle 32 f indicates that in some applications consistent with the present invention that a zipper pull assembly kit 10 f may be provided wherein the external spherical receptacle 32 f (or one for a tab) may be attached (e.g., an adhesive foam provided or applied adhesive) to an object not originally manufactured for such attachment.

It should be appreciated that any patent, publication, or other disclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated material does not conflict with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.

While the present invention has been illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications may readily appear to those skilled in the art.

For example, instead of locking arms as depicted, a spring biased plunger may be incorporated. 

1. A zipper attachment assembly, comprising: a zipper pull member attachable to a slider of a zipper and comprising an engaging member at one end connected via a narrow waist to a zipper mounting portion; a housing; a receptacle shaped to receive the engaging member of the zipper pull member and comprising opposing first and second spring biased hooking members on respective sides of the receptacle shaped for outward deflection during insertion of the engaging member.
 2. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, further comprising a spring attached between the first hooking member and a selected one of the housing and the second hooking member.
 3. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 2, wherein the first and second hooking members form an obtuse contacting angle with the engaging member, the spring asserting a locking force sufficient to hold a predetermined weight of an object attached to the housing and insufficient to retain locking engagement when a higher tension force is applied.
 4. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 2, further comprising a release button communicating externally through the housing to the first hooking member postioned to overcome the spring bias moving the hooking member away from the engaging member when depressed.
 5. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the engaging member comprises a flat tab portion having left and right locking notches.
 6. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the engaging member comprises a spherical ball tip.
 7. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing further comprises an external contact surface shaped for adhesive mounting to an object.
 8. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the zipper mounting portion further comprises a cord.
 9. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the zipper mounting portion comprises a flat pull tab shaped for permanent mounting to a slider of a zipper.
 10. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the zipper mounting portion comprises a flat surface having a contact surface shaped for affixing to a zipper pull tab of a zipper.
 11. The zipper attachment assembly of claim 1, wherein the zipper mounting portion comprises a resilient enclosure having an opening and internal cavity shaped for resilient capture of a zipper pull tab of a zipper. 